Potential Names Discussed Tonight for the Baby-Boy-To-Be

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  • Galway
  • Wolf
  • Jasper
  • Oliver (pls sir, can I have another)
  • Hubcap (That’s right, ma’am. H-u-b hub, c-a-p cap. Hubcap.)
  • Cowboy
  • Hoyt
  • Thorsten
  • Jefferson
  • Plum Dandy
  • Miles
  • Django

But the #1 name of the evening? Just rolled right off my tongue mid-sentence:
  • Riverbone.

Oh yeah, baby. There wasn’t a last or middle name that Riverbone wasn’t able to mesh with. This was followed by lots of hysterical laughter and then a suggestion of “Floor Pie” (not by me) due to some visuals at Old Town. I guess you had to be there.
(No, no, no. Not MY baby boy to be. Cripes, people. Settle.)

Timing of Annual Events.

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Some of which I am not even going to again (Nipper, you know which one I mean), but I can never keep the timing straight.

April/May – 2nd Story Festival (Chitown)
May – MDS&W
July – Pitchfork (Chitown)
August – Lollapalooza (Chitown)
Aug/Sept – Dragon*Con
Sept – Monolith
Oct – Chicago marathon (No, not for me to run)
Oct – Rhinebeck
Oct – Chicago Film Festival
Oct/Nov – Chicago Arts & Humanities Festival
Nov – NYC marathon (No, not for me to run)

Subscriptions [updated]

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Literary:
Slightly Foxed. Whether you wind up buying the books discussed or not, it’s worth reading on its own.
One Story. Each issue is, as it says, one story. Perfect for the commute.
Musically:
Paste Magazine. The samplers are great. And like me, it is more alternative than the totally mainstream….but it is totally mainstream compared to, say, P*fork.

For the reviews
i.e. so I know when new stuff is coming out:
Rolling Stone.
Entertainment Weekly.
However, the fact that I never flip through these until I have four or five built up generally defeats the purpose of knowing that new books/albums are out when it’s a month later that I read that issue…

Craft-wise:
Interweave Knits. Going to let this one lapse if it ever runs out.
Quilter’s Newsletter.

For the Trivia:
Mental Floss. I really think this is a great magazine. Except I have a mental block on it and I almost never read it. Only in the tub. I should let this one lapse.

For the Recipes. Supposedly:
Everyday Food. I give these to my cousin after I have three or four built-up. I swear I have not renewed this EVER but it just keeps on coming. I cooked from it once or twice. Eh, whatever. Can’t get myself interested in it. At this point, I don’t even flip through them before handing them off.

Gifted:
My co-worker gives me US Weekly every year. Not my fault!

Oh, the torture.

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1) Au Bon Pain has suddenly, and without any type of notification (such as certified letter to me), stopped carrying Nantucket Nectars Half & Half, my most beloved bottled drink (half Ice Tea/half Lemonade, what some would call an “Arnold Palmer”).

Problem the first: This is the only reason I even went to ABP today.

Problem the second: This drink is almost impossible to find in Chicago. (Even in NYC, I used to make special trips to Penn Station as there was a very reliable vendor of it there.)

Dear ABP,
You’ve just been banned from my lunchtime rotation for at least a month. So there.
Sincerely,
My entire life is falling apart, and NOW THIS?
Are you kidding me,
Duff

2) I for some unknown and clearly completely ridiculous reason ordered brown rice in my otherwise deliciously dependable Mayan Chicken Harvest Rice Bowl.

Problem the first: This brown rice thing? Has a shall we call it very distinctive….flavor? We are not fans.

Dear White Rice,
I am missing the shit out of you right now.
Sincerely,
The big loserly lover of blandness in her food,
Duff

À la Nick Hornby, books in/books out for September.

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Bought:

  • Iodine, by Haven Kimmel*
  • Indignation, by Philip Roth*
  • Home, by Marilynne Robinson*
  • Ballistics, by Billy Collins (poetry)*
  • The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson*
  • Generation Kill; Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War, by Evan Wright
  • One Bullet Away; The Making of a Marine Officer, by Nathaniel Fick

Read:
  • The Man Without Qualities, Vol 1, by Robert Musil (mostly read in August but not finished until Sept…)
  • Dead Boys, by Richard Lange
  • Sway, by Zachary Lazar
  • Iodine, by Haven Kimmel

*That was one expensive trip to the bookstore!!

DadReaction: Doomsday

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If you don’t see this, you’re missing one of the best movies of the year. Kick-ass girl-power movie. There’s a one-eyed woman cop, tough as nails. Takes on all of Scotland, kicks butt. It’s a lot like 28 Days Later, Mad Max, and Aliens. Also influenced by Satyricon and King Arthur.

Beautifully filmed; the action scenes are great; you’re on the edge of your seat. Stunning photography. Just a great ride.

[Note: Doomsday was written & directed by the same guy who did The Descent, one of Dad’s top five from last year (which was way tooooo fucking scary if you ask me.), and also Dog Soldiers (which I am way way WAY too scared of to watch).]

Best of August

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The best movie I saw in August would have to be the ONLY movie I saw in August which is ridiculous and pathetic but that’s something for a different post, eh? Yeah, so anyway, that’d be Wall-E, which was fine but animation isn’t really my thing.

The best book I read in August was The Likeness by Tana French. It’s somewhat of a sequel but you don’t really need to have read the earlier book to enjoy it; different main character.

The best gig I went to in August was Great Lake Swimmers.

My favorite tunes in August were the songs that wound up on my current favorite playlists.

Random personal highlights: (Only) one day at Lollapalooza (this time around); Silvia came to Chicago two weekends in a row! Woot!; Hot Doug’s with Cinnamon. I actually went to KIP twice, if you can even believe that. And then there was this little thing I went to called Dragon*Con (which also encompassed a week long trip to Georgia to crash the Happy Pants home).

Lowlights? I don’t know, looking back it seems like it was a fairly decent month. Maybe bursting into uncontrollable tears about 15 minutes after meeting my crush? Fun times (poor Carrie and Cat).